pH woes, heat in the reservoir

[SurfBuddy]

Hi there, I am at the seedling stage of this grow... (see the journal in my sig)
Grow tent 4'x2'
Bucket Size - 10 gallon and 3 gallon + 10 gallon res
Medium - Hydroton and Rockwool
Lights - one 4' six bulb high bay t8 from HD with warm, cool and daylight bulbs
Nutrients - none yet
Strain(s) - BigBud, Northern Lights, BubbleGum plus one unknown (classic pack came with free seeds)
# of Plants: lucky 13
Home made RDWC with SOG in mind--gotta flower early
Passive cooling, room temp 81, water temp 78
pH:5.5-8.4 (WTF?)

I have had to change out the water in my res too many times (twice) in the 5 days since I planted these in rockwool. (Rockwool was presoaked in 5.5 overnight) The pH goes way up, and there was a slimy feel to the tubes in the reservoir (so I did a tub switch, cleaned all the components, and added a reservoir, and put reflective stuff on the tub as I think it was letting tons of light in).

My tap water is really high in pH, off the scale on one of those pool pH testers. I have to add 1.5 tsp to 8 gallons of water to get it between 5-6.
(that's a lot, right?)

Last night, I dumped all the water, and re-added above . This morning, pH is ok, around 6 (although when I first looked it seemed more like 6.5) Am I checking it too often? They drank a 1/2 gallon of water in 6 hours... should I be adding/checking twice a day?

I know, I know, get a digital pH reader... it's in the mail and should get here this week. I can give more accurate readings/descriptions then, but for now I am concerned about the initial pH down, and the repeated rises in my res to above 8.

In this last res change, I added 8 tsp of h202 to the mix, and will continue to add in h202 until I can get the slime gone by better means.

Since my plants are seedlings (showing first set of leaves or still in casing and not yet showing any leaves) I can't be getting root rot yet, right? Should I be adjusting the water temp even though I have some seedlings that have not pushed out of the rockwool? (out of 13, 10 are above rockwool.. one came out today, and the others are close), or since they're still germinating, should I not keep the temps down? I added the res specifically to be able to add frozen water bottles to it. I think 78 is high enough for silme to build up, but it's also near the temp I need for germination... thoughts?

Is it enough to have the lights close that the temp at the rockwool is 80-83 via lights and the water cooler? i might separate the slowpokes at this point.

im even considreing bailing on what i have and going to 5 gal buckets with real netpots (in case my beer cups are causing problems holding water, etc.. I'm open to suggestions

TIA.

 

[first-tymer]

Hi there, I am at the seedling stage of this grow... (see the journal in my sig)
Grow tent 4'x2'
Bucket Size - 10 gallon and 3 gallon + 10 gallon res
Medium - Hydroton and Rockwool
Lights - one 4' six bulb high bay t8 from HD with warm, cool and daylight bulbs
Nutrients - none yet
Strain(s) - BigBud, Northern Lights, BubbleGum plus one unknown (classic pack came with free seeds)
# of Plants: lucky 13
Home made RDWC with SOG in mind--gotta flower early
Passive cooling, room temp 81, water temp 78
pH:5.5-8.4 (WTF?)

I have had to change out the water in my res too many times (twice) in the 5 days since I planted these in rockwool. (Rockwool was presoaked in 5.5 overnight) The pH goes way up, and there was a slimy feel to the tubes in the reservoir (so I did a tub switch, cleaned all the components, and added a reservoir, and put reflective stuff on the tub as I think it was letting tons of light in).

My tap water is really high in pH, off the scale on one of those pool pH testers. I have to add 1.5 tsp to 8 gallons of water to get it between 5-6.
(that's a lot, right?)

Last night, I dumped all the water, and re-added above . This morning, pH is ok, around 6 (although when I first looked it seemed more like 6.5) Am I checking it too often? They drank a 1/2 gallon of water in 6 hours... should I be adding/checking twice a day?

I know, I know, get a digital pH reader... it's in the mail and should get here this week. I can give more accurate readings/descriptions then, but for now I am concerned about the initial pH down, and the repeated rises in my res to above 8.

In this last res change, I added 8 tsp of h202 to the mix, and will continue to add in h202 until I can get the slime gone by better means.

Since my plants are seedlings (showing first set of leaves or still in casing and not yet showing any leaves) I can't be getting root rot yet, right? Should I be adjusting the water temp even though I have some seedlings that have not pushed out of the rockwool? (out of 13, 10 are above rockwool.. one came out today, and the others are close), or since they're still germinating, should I not keep the temps down? I added the res specifically to be able to add frozen water bottles to it. I think 78 is high enough for silme to build up, but it's also near the temp I need for germination... thoughts?

Is it enough to have the lights close that the temp at the rockwool is 80-83 via lights and the water cooler? i might separate the slowpokes at this point.

im even considreing bailing on what i have and going to 5 gal buckets with real netpots (in case my beer cups are causing problems holding water, etc.. I'm open to suggestions

TIA.

Alright man, looks like you are working pretty hard at this and you remind me of myself just a little over a month ago when I was trying to get my hydro setup figured out so I'm gonna see if I can get you straightened out.

First of all, don't get discouraged with yourself and try to be patient. I can help you fix most if not all of these problems, but you are going to have to give my methods a few days to maybe up to a week to work themselves out, so in other words don't expect immediate results.

First thing you need to do is get your water temperature down... Way down! It should never get above 70 degrees and you really don't want to get it too far below 64, somewhere between 65 and 68 is ideal. If the water gets to cold then the plants will react as if winter may be coming and it will put undue stress on the plant. If the water gets too warm for a prolonged period of time you run the risk of creating water born diseases such as root rot and fungus which can wreak havoc on the plants root system, will syunt growth, and can eventually kill your plant by cutting it off from essentials like Nitrogen, oxygen, etc... This is also important because your plants absorb oxygen through their roots and out of the water as much if not more than through their leaves. That being said marijuana best absorbs oxygen between temps of 62 and 75 degrees. As a results as I mentioned before best to keep the temps between 65 and 68. I struggled with this at first and lost my first test plant as a result of the high res temps, but once I figured out what the problem was and realized I was running short on money, I decided to freeze small water bottles in my freezer and add a frozen one to each of my reserviors indiviually because I don't have a my circulating kit setup (will explain why this is a good idea for you in a moment). I currently have to add a new bottle about every 3 hrs which although is a lot of work, it was also my only hope at the moment, and may be yours too. There are other products out there like water chillers, but I'm not very familiar with those yet and have heard both good and bad things... The other thing that will help you is lowering your ambient(air) temperature in the room your tent is in. You can do this one of two ways as well. First and most obvious is some sort of air conditioning unit, these range from central A/C units, to portable indoor units, all the way to window A/C units. I tried mainlining the A/C duct in the room my tent is in directly to my tent with flexible duct work at first and this worked temporarily, but it froze out all the free-on in my central A/C unit and now I have to completely replace it all... The other option when trying to lower your ambient air temp and the one I am using right now is simply better circulation... You didn't mention how your are currently doing so, but I can tell you if you don't already have one, you will need a nice inline duct fan to suck air into the tent and pull the older warmer air out of the tent. This is also relatively important because you are creating a negative air pressure within your tent which will help the plants a bit as well. You will also need one or two smaller normal fans as well to ouch the air around within the tent. I have one at the level of my reserviors to keep that air cooler, a larger oscillating fan at canopy level, and a small clip fan blowing air above my light fixture. Since you are using florescents the last one may not be needed... Again this will help lower your res temps but may not completely fix the problem depending on other conditions where you are such as outdoor temps, humidity levels, equipment being used, etc....

Second thing you need to correct is the pH in your water... This can be a little tricky at first because most people will tell you not to give your plants any nutrients for the first two to three weeks of growth, and for the most part they are right. Reason that makes it difficult is because when most nutrients are added to the water automatically lowers the pH of your water and most of the time (depending on the nutrients being used) will help keep it somewhat stable depending on the amount that you have added. Water with no nutrients, more specificaly tap water, can be extremely hard to balance the pH in... If your water is still too hard after letting it sit out for 48hrs, then I'm afraid you may have to do the same thing I have been doing for the last month, and that is buy and use nothing but distilled water for your plants. This does get expensive and if you do so, I suggest buying feminized seeds from a good and reputable online seed dealer so you don't waste a lot of money on nutrients and water for a plant that may turn out to be a male rather than a female. That is very disappointing and expensive! When using distilled water you may have to use cal/mag if your nutrients don't contain a sufficient amount (check on back of bottle before puchase). But in general the more nutrients your plant can handle (which typically depends one how mature it is) the better bacause nutrients make the water much easier to control. I have been using a product called Power Clone (although I grow from seed) at first. I simply add the recomended amount to a gallon of distilled water while it is still in the gallon jug, stir it a bit, test the pH, make any adjustments I need to by using pH-up and pH-down by using an eye dropper and then you should be good to go... Just make sure you replace the cap on the jug when done to help keep the waters pH at the same level, exposing it to air will make it fluctuate (it usually rises). I would only suggest using the power clone formula while the plants are germinating in the rockwool cubes. Once your transfer to the hydro unit only use quarter strength nutes at first and gradually add more each time you do a complete water change, which you should be doing once a week using distilled water, until the nutrients are at the suggested level or one you feel comfortable with. I had to test the pH of the water I was using three times a day at first (because of lower nutrient levels), then once they were small plants I only did it twice a day, and now the one that is fully developed only needs to be tested once each day.

One thing you will need you buy is a PPM meter for your water... This will read the amount of total disolved solids(TDS) within the water you are giving the plants. Distilled water has no PPM therefore no TDS's and is much easier to work with and control. This reading is important because plants at differents stages of maturity can handle higher PPM levels than others and adding nutrients to the water will increase the level significantly within the water once you begin doing so. As a general rule 0-300ppm for seedlings (use Power Clone), 300-600ppm for developed clones, 600-1000ppm for smaller plants once you have increased to 1/4 strength nutes, and then 1000-1800ppm for fully developed and mature plants. If you make sure the PPM is right when you do your water changes, then you won't have to check the level nearly as often as the pH, probably once every other day or so. However the PPM of your water is a very important aspect of growing hydroponically and should not be overlooked! I didn't understand this when I started and struggled with nutrient levels and subsequently my plants health for quite sometime before I learned of it's significance and bought a good meter. Now it is much easier!

As far as lighting goes, you may want to consider using a High Pressure Sodium (HPS) grow light for the flowering/budding cycle. This will increase the amount of red spectrum in your tent which is important during that stage. The flourescents you are using should work well during veg due to the amount of blue spectrum they put out. Metal Hylide (MH) lamps are good for both veg and flowering but not as good as the flourescents and HPS. HPS and MH lamps both run at higher temps than flourescents and LED's do so it is even more improtant to have proper air circulation throughout the tent!

Another thing I would suggest is using a product called Rapid Rooters (RR's) for germination and or cloning, rather than the rock wool. I say this because rock wool is not as pH balanced as RR's (which don't carry a pH at all). Also from what I have heard rock wool is more likely to develope mold and fungus than RR's are. Just a suggestion though, I also know many people that have had success with rock wool as well.

You may want to rethink the DIY hydro system you have made as well. I would use a small bucket to hold the hydroton with holes poked in the bottom within a larger bucket that holds the water level below the medium. I would then run an air pump into the water using a perculator that then pushes the water up and through a dripring positioned on top of the hydroton/medium and around the plant. This is combines the drip system concept adopted by many soil growers with the DWC technique used by many hydro grower and together make a truely remarkable system that can produce monster plants! The result is what is called a continuous drip system/DWC combo. I use a unit called the Water Farm, which is made by General Hydroponics (GH). I would do a little research into one of these units before contructing your own just to get a good idea of what it intails.

Also wanted to mention the fact that 13 plants seems a little much for a 4'x2' tent to handle... If you are using bagseeds I can kind of justify it because chances are a few will turn into males. But if you are using feminized seeds I would suggest selecting the 6 that are showing the most progressive healthy growth once you have made some of these adjustments and scrapping the rest so you don't overcrowd the grow space. Especially since Big Bud and Northern Lights are known to be rather large plants to be growing indoors. Although there are ways to control the size your plants get (ex: topping, Finning, bending, etc...) SOG will also create shorter plants, but they will tend to bush out and you won't likely have enough square footage to handle all your plants at once.

Okay bud, think I covered most of it, I will check out your journal in a bit, but I'm subbed to this thread now so feel free to let me know if you have anymore questions and good luck!

 

[SurfBuddy]

Alright man, looks like you are working pretty hard at this and you remind me of myself just a little over a month ago when I was trying to get my hydro setup figured out so I'm gonna see if I can get you straightened out.

Thanks First Tymer

First of all, don't get discouraged with yourself and try to be patient. I can help you fix most if not all of these problems, but you are going to have to give my methods a few days to maybe up to a week to work themselves out, so in other words don't expect immediate results.

OK. Patience has been hard, wanting them to grow up so fast, but you're right.

First thing you need to do is get your water temperature down... Way down! It should never get above 70 degrees and you really don't want to get it too far below 64, somewhere between 65 and 68 is ideal. If the water gets to cold then the plants will react as if winter may be coming and it will put undue stress on the plant. If the water gets too warm for a prolonged period of time you run the risk of creating water born diseases such as root rot and fungus which can wreak havoc on the plants root system, will syunt growth, and can eventually kill your plant by cutting it off from essentials like Nitrogen, oxygen, etc... This is also important because your plants absorb oxygen through their roots and out of the water as much if not more than through their leaves. That being said marijuana best absorbs oxygen between temps of 62 and 75 degrees. As a results as I mentioned before best to keep the temps between 65 and 68. I struggled with this at first and lost my first test plant as a result of the high res temps, but once I figured out what the problem was and realized I was running short on money, I decided to freeze small water bottles in my freezer and add a frozen one to each of my reserviors indiviually because I don't have a my circulating kit setup (will explain why this is a good idea for you in a moment). I currently have to add a new bottle about every 3 hrs which although is a lot of work, it was also my only hope at the moment, and may be yours too. There are other products out there like water chillers, but I'm not very familiar with those yet and have heard both good and bad things... The other thing that will help you is lowering your ambient(air) temperature in the room your tent is in. You can do this one of two ways as well. First and most obvious is some sort of air conditioning unit, these range from central A/C units, to portable indoor units, all the way to window A/C units. I tried mainlining the A/C duct in the room my tent is in directly to my tent with flexible duct work at first and this worked temporarily, but it froze out all the free-on in my central A/C unit and now I have to completely replace it all... The other option when trying to lower your ambient air temp and the one I am using right now is simply better circulation... You didn't mention how your are currently doing so, but I can tell you if you don't already have one, you will need a nice inline duct fan to suck air into the tent and pull the older warmer air out of the tent. This is also relatively important because you are creating a negative air pressure within your tent which will help the plants a bit as well. You will also need one or two smaller normal fans as well to ouch the air around within the tent. I have one at the level of my reserviors to keep that air cooler, a larger oscillating fan at canopy level, and a small clip fan blowing air above my light fixture. Since you are using florescents the last one may not be needed... Again this will help lower your res temps but may not completely fix the problem depending on other conditions where you are such as outdoor temps, humidity levels, equipment being used, etc....

I was able to get the temps down with a ice bottle scheme like you describe, except I ended up creating a second reservoir for putting bottles in because I was told that if the bottles contact the roots, it freezes and damages them and the plant.

I also ended up getting a 240CFM 6" inline duct fan that has worked wonders with the temps. I have a tower fan tucked into the main door to pull air in, and two passive vents on the tent. If it gets too hot this summer, I'll probably throw down for an A/C.

Second thing you need to correct is the pH in your water... This can be a little tricky at first because most people will tell you not to give your plants any nutrients for the first two to three weeks of growth, and for the most part they are right. Reason that makes it difficult is because when most nutrients are added to the water automatically lowers the pH of your water and most of the time (depending on the nutrients being used) will help keep it somewhat stable depending on the amount that you have added. Water with no nutrients, more specificaly tap water, can be extremely hard to balance the pH in... If your water is still too hard after letting it sit out for 48hrs, then I'm afraid you may have to do the same thing I have been doing for the last month, and that is buy and use nothing but distilled water for your plants. This does get expensive and if you do so, I suggest buying feminized seeds from a good and reputable online seed dealer so you don't waste a lot of money on nutrients and water for a plant that may turn out to be a male rather than a female. That is very disappointing and expensive! When using distilled water you may have to use cal/mag if your nutrients don't contain a sufficient amount (check on back of bottle before puchase). But in general the more nutrients your plant can handle (which typically depends one how mature it is) the better bacause nutrients make the water much easier to control. I have been using a product called Power Clone (although I grow from seed) at first. I simply add the recomended amount to a gallon of distilled water while it is still in the gallon jug, stir it a bit, test the pH, make any adjustments I need to by using pH-up and pH-down by using an eye dropper and then you should be good to go... Just make sure you replace the cap on the jug when done to help keep the waters pH at the same level, exposing it to air will make it fluctuate (it usually rises). I would only suggest using the power clone formula while the plants are germinating in the rockwool cubes. Once your transfer to the hydro unit only use quarter strength nutes at first and gradually add more each time you do a complete water change, which you should be doing once a week using distilled water, until the nutrients are at the suggested level or one you feel comfortable with. I had to test the pH of the water I was using three times a day at first (because of lower nutrient levels), then once they were small plants I only did it twice a day, and now the one that is fully developed only needs to be tested once each day.

I battled and battled the pH. Some days it launched up from 5.3 to 8.5 and so I would pull water out, add in ph 5 water, pull more water out, add in more.. it became such a pain in the @ss. I probably should have gone to distilled water

One thing you will need you buy is a PPM meter for your water... This will read the amount of total disolved solids(TDS) within the water you are giving the plants. Distilled water has no PPM therefore no TDS's and is much easier to work with and control. This reading is important because plants at differents stages of maturity can handle higher PPM levels than others and adding nutrients to the water will increase the level significantly within the water once you begin doing so. As a general rule 0-300ppm for seedlings (use Power Clone), 300-600ppm for developed clones, 600-1000ppm for smaller plants once you have increased to 1/4 strength nutes, and then 1000-1800ppm for fully developed and mature plants. If you make sure the PPM is right when you do your water changes, then you won't have to check the level nearly as often as the pH, probably once every other day or so. However the PPM of your water is a very important aspect of growing hydroponically and should not be overlooked! I didn't understand this when I started and struggled with nutrient levels and subsequently my plants health for quite sometime before I learned of it's significance and bought a good meter. Now it is much easier!

I got one it's a cheapo, but is digital and seems to work well.

As far as lighting goes, you may want to consider using a High Pressure Sodium (HPS) grow light for the flowering/budding cycle. This will increase the amount of red spectrum in your tent which is important during that stage. The flourescents you are using should work well during veg due to the amount of blue spectrum they put out. Metal Hylide (MH) lamps are good for both veg and flowering but not as good as the flourescents and HPS. HPS and MH lamps both run at higher temps than flourescents and LED's do so it is even more improtant to have proper air circulation throughout the tent!

I think with the temp issues I'm having now, I wouldn't get one unless I got the A/C. If I can't control a few t8's then how can i control a superheated 600W! I have 2700K florescents for flowering when I get there.. should work, right?

Another thing I would suggest is using a product called Rapid Rooters (RR's) for germination and or cloning, rather than the rock wool. I say this because rock wool is not as pH balanced as RR's (which don't carry a pH at all). Also from what I have heard rock wool is more likely to develope mold and fungus than RR's are. Just a suggestion though, I also know many people that have had success with rock wool as well.

I got some of these too, and I agree, they rule over rockwool. Rockwool may have killed my first bagseed attempt.

You may want to rethink the DIY hydro system you have made as well. I would use a small bucket to hold the hydroton with holes poked in the bottom within a larger bucket that holds the water level below the medium. I would then run an air pump into the water using a perculator that then pushes the water up and through a dripring positioned on top of the hydroton/medium and around the plant. This is combines the drip system concept adopted by many soil growers with the DWC technique used by many hydro grower and together make a truely remarkable system that can produce monster plants! The result is what is called a continuous drip system/DWC combo. I use a unit called the Water Farm, which is made by General Hydroponics (GH). I would do a little research into one of these units before contructing your own just to get a good idea of what it intails.

Yeah, I should have just got one first, and then tried to copy it... i used some threads here for blueprints, but then upped the ante with more plants per bucket. Probably too ambitious I had drippers going to the middle of the rockwool, bubbles everywhere, and I think I somehow overwatered (damn rockwool) and stunted everything. I'll check out the one you mentioned by GH, I like their stuff.

Also wanted to mention the fact that 13 plants seems a little much for a 4'x2' tent to handle... If you are using bagseeds I can kind of justify it because chances are a few will turn into males. But if you are using feminized seeds I would suggest selecting the 6 that are showing the most progressive healthy growth once you have made some of these adjustments and scrapping the rest so you don't overcrowd the grow space. Especially since Big Bud and Northern Lights are known to be rather large plants to be growing indoors. Although there are ways to control the size your plants get (ex: topping, Finning, bending, etc...) SOG will also create shorter plants, but they will tend to bush out and you won't likely have enough square footage to handle all your plants at once.

Yeah, they were regular seed, not feminized, but from a seedbank. I kinda planned on 1/2 being bad boys and 1/2 being good girls. I have 12 now, (a few kicked the bucket and I started 2 more).

Okay bud, think I covered most of it, I will check out your journal in a bit, but I'm subbed to this thread now so feel free to let me know if you have anymore questions and good luck!

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond so thoroughly- If you were here, I'd pack you one. Sadly, I've given up on the RDWC for now and switched to 2L DWC-Hempy in Coco Coir for ease of use and maintenance. But, I will be giving the DWC another go in the future when I have more time to allocate to it. It was just too time consuming and actually stressful worrying about the pH so much.

Again, thanks for your time. Super awesome response. +reps.

 

[first-tymer]

No problem man, I think you are on the right track now although I wouldn't worry about the ice from the bottles as long as you wait a minute or two before putting the plant back into the larger bucket after you add the frozen water bottle, I usually take this time to check my water temp, pH levels, PPM levels, add water if necessary, etc... I also make sure I keep the larger bucket I put the plant in temporarily while I do this free of any stagnant old water that may be in it from previous use. As far as the flourescent are concerned, I don't know much more than I mentioned earlier. I do know that I have a larger inline fan that sucks are through the enclosed air cooled hood from within the tent, this seems to keep my temps low enough to keep my plants the proper distance from the HPS bulb. From what I hear flourescents will work also. Have you purchased a PPM/TDS meter yet???

 

[SurfBuddy]

Hmm, OK. I did get a ppm meter for around $20, but it seems to work and stays calibrated... i only gt the 1000ppm solution.

 

[first-tymer]

Good, I got lucky and got a good price on an expensive one on craigslist. I have found craigslist to be a great resource for cheap equipment, both new and used! I wish I would have checked on craigslist before I went and blew such a big load on my initial purchase, but now I doubt I will ever buy another item directly from a hydro store. I found a guy close buy that gets everything at wholesale which is about half off retail value. Could have saved myself about a grand right off the top! Oh well, live n learn I guess... Next item on the agenda is co2 refill for the used tank/regulator/ppm meter/controler I purchased from the guy... Paid 200 for those three things, both my nice meters (pH and TDS), extra nutrients, and some used light hangers.... Not too shabby if ya ask me. Everything has been tested and works as it is supposed to. Hope you have the same luck I did on there!

 

[SurfBuddy]

Nice, hadn't thought of that... will look into it... Thanks!

 

[first-tymer]

yep, check it out, not sure where you are from but around here you will find it in the farm and gardening section, use keywords such as hydro, grow, HPS, fan, etc.... You get the idea. Do beware how much information you devulge about what you are doing and where you are from, you never know who you are talking to. Also meet in a safe and secure location, make note of persons car, license plates, and I would not go alone. There are many ripoff scams associated with craigslist and you can never be too careful. Make sure the person knows what they are trying to sell you before you meet up to purchase. Often times if they don't it could be some sort of setup, or they could very well have stolen the equipment... Bottom line is trust your gut. Test all equipment prior to purchase, I suggest finding out what the retail is on the item prior to looking at it so you know what it is worth based on the condition, but if you have internet on your phone then you can just look it up as you are looking at it all. Keep in consideration when making an offer that most of the equipment sold on there by individuals is used and make your offer based on that knowledge and what you think they might let it go for, shoot low and adjust accordingly. Hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[E Doh907]

keep heat down, check ph as often as possible then adjust accordingly, recalibrate ur tools once a month minimal. i keep resivior outside of room to keep cooler. u gota remember that h2o2 makes ph go up so does plain water. i changed water once a week, after changing to a larger resivior and switched to better more expensive nutes i stretch to week an half to 2 weeks. i top off with fresh water every couple days, always check an adjust ph after adding water. when i do a water change i rinse out/scrub resivior with water and then get that out, then i flush with ph adjusted water for half hour or so. then i take it out and add my nutes. I like to flush at least once every 2 weeks but usually do it every nute change

 

[SurfBuddy]

keep heat down, check ph as often as possible then adjust accordingly, recalibrate ur tools once a month minimal. i keep resivior outside of room to keep cooler. u gota remember that h2o2 makes ph go up so does plain water. i changed water once a week, after changing to a larger resivior and switched to better more expensive nutes i stretch to week an half to 2 weeks. i top off with fresh water every couple days, always check an adjust ph after adding water. when i do a water change i rinse out/scrub resivior with water and then get that out, then i flush with ph adjusted water for half hour or so. then i take it out and add my nutes. I like to flush at least once every 2 weeks but usually do it every nute change

Thanks EDOH, I have limited space though, everything is in one closet with a tent in it. Res, veg/seedling/flower.
I may have been jacking myself with the h202 as I add that last and pour in I think in hindsight my main problem was over watering at too young an age stunting them. I had a drip and the bubbles and I think that caused root death which caused the pH instability. I was chaging the res every few days! Ugh-ly. I've sinced moved on to 2L hempy's but am considering another go at a smaller more simple version of what I had before.. one plant in a 2gal bucket and one in a 5 gal bucket.